An Attitude of Gratitude - My Neighborhood

 Continuing along with the month long Attitude of Gratitude Journal challenge, here is Day 12:

 
Today's topic is My Neighborhood - what sort of neighborhood it is and what I am most thankful for. The technique challenge was to use or draw a map of my neighborhood. Since I had used a map for Day 2, I chose to use a photo and stencil my zip code. The photo was taken in the Fall of 2010 on a  particularly foggy morning. I tweaked the contrast of the colors a little, the yellows really were like that! I printed it onto store bought mulberry paper, sprayed it with fixative and glued it into the journal.

Here is what I wrote:  Though my zip code would be identified as a suburban neighborhood, my particular area is a little treasure. Thirteen family-owned acres that contain woods, meadows and wetlands, it is such a blessing to live here. So much beauty every day.  I am captivated every morning, noon and night. I am also thankful that several of my husband's relatives are our neighbors.

Incorporating Gampi Transfers with Printmaking

I came across this video by accident (don't you love serendipitousness?) I have printed photos onto my handmade gampi paper and love how it looks, but have been reluctant to incorporate them into my artwork knowing that the inks would smear if I applied acrylic mediums or any other liquid glues. In this video the artist, Darlene Olivia McElroy, instructs you to spray the image with a fixative and allow it to dry before applying the medium. I am excited to try this. A simple solution to the dilemma! My gampi isn't white or tissue-thin like the type she uses in the video, but if I have a background similar to the natural gampi paper it should blend well. If not, that is okay because this paper is beautiful and will add its texture to the finished piece.




Two photos taken while vacationing at Madison Cottages, Summer 2010. Sepia and black & white/green tinted photos inkjet printed on my handmade gampi paper.

    

I have done "ghost prints" on thin store-bought gampi and have used some in prints via chine colle, but the paper doesn't "disappear" the way it does when using acrylic medium as shown in this video. You can see that in this print where the paper on the right was adhered via chine colle to the print then overprinted with the inked oak leaves. Perhaps if I thoroughly wet the gampi paper (providing the ink printed on it is waterproof) as well as the backing paper, it may "disappear". If not, I can try to use a matte medium so that this section won't have a shine to it (from gloss medium which this artist uses), since the rest of the print doesn't have or require that look.

View From the Kitchen Window - October 19, 2011

The Woods Out Back

The Family Pond & Swampy Meadow

There is something almost magical about a rainy landscape. It is easier to see true colors. No sunlight to bounce off the surfaces, dust washed away and wetness adding a gloss or sheen to the colors and textures.

Whenever I look upon this landscape, I am reminded again and again how very blessed I am to live here. I grew up in Queens, New York and although we had a backyard, it was probably only 30'x30' at most. We had no trees surrounding us. Just a few shrubs put in by building contractors. My father planted Japanese Maple saplings and my mother planted a Kwansan Cherry seedling several years later. I don't remember seeing squirrels. The only birds I recall were sparrows and starlings. Of course I was a child then and didn't pay much attention, but I think I would have remembered cardinals and bluejays, squirrels and other small animals. When I think of these creatures, memories of my grandparents' summer home in Putnam County or my aunt and uncle's home in Suffolk County come to mind.

Living here for the past eighteen years has done much good for my psyche. Part of thirteen acres owned by various family members on my husband's side, this former dairy farm of 60+ acres still enchants. Not the home in the country I always dreamed of, it is satisfying nonetheless. I have space to garden, room for sheds and barns to house the equipment and materials of our various hobbies, a front and screened back porch in which to sit and enjoy the sights, sounds and scents. I am content.